HOBBS, NM - The USW Men's basketball team was unable to hold on to early leads once again as it fell on the road to both University of St Thomas and Huston-Tillotson.

With 3 starters still remaining out due to disciplinary issues, the Mustangs relied on its two remaining leading scorers, Rontrell Hills and Emmanuel McNeil early in the game versus Huston-Tillotson, while jumping out to a early 12-4 lead. However, the lead and the game momentum quickly swung to the Ram's favor as they proceeded on a 12-2 run to take the lead with 7:34 remaining in the first half. The Mustangs continued to trade baskets with the Rams and entered halftime only trailing by eight, 42-34. The Mustangs shot 48% while the Rams shot 51%, while out-rebounding the Mustangs 22-12.

The Mustangs came out cold to start the second half of play, and missed their first 6 shots, while the Rams made their first 6 shots, and the Mustangs never recovered the rest of the way, only shooting 22% in the 2nd half and scoring a season low twenty-eight points, as the Rams pulled away scoring 58 points in the 2nd half to win 100-59.

The Mustangs shot 34% for the game (23-68) and were out-rebounded 46-30. Tyler Watts led USW (4-15, 2-10 RRAC) with 14 points and 5 rebounds, while Tyler Watkins had 13 points and 6 rebounds. The Rams were led by Christian Julian's game high 21 points (9-15) to lead the Rams to their 9th win of the season.

The following game saw the Mustangs face Nationally Ranked (RV) University of St Thomas (17-7, 8-4 RRAC) and again, the Mustangs held a 12-6 lead early in the game. However with only 7 active players on the roster for the game, the Celt's continued to wear down the Mustangs and held a 15-point halftime lead as they trailed 37-22. The Mustangs shot a season low 28% for the first half, and turned the ball over 12 times, giving the Celt's 18 points off turnovers.

The second half saw the Mustangs come out and take better care of the basketball, but poor shooting and a short bench saw the mustangs fighting a 20-pt deficit the remainder of the game. The Mustangs were led by Emmanuel McNeil's double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Keiron Morning chipped in with a career-high 10 points as the Mustangs closed out the game on a 6-0 run. With the loss, the Mustangs (4-16, 2-10 RRAC) were eliminated from Post-season play for the year.

The Mustangs hit the road again as they travel to the state of Louisiana for rematches against Louisiana-Alexandria (Saturday at 4pm CST/3pm MST) currently ranked #1 , and also against Louisiana-Shreveport (Thursday at 7pm CST/6pm MST) ranked #23 in the latest NAIA national poll. The Mustangs will welcome back the return of Akeem Black, Joshua Harris and John Paul Garcia who have missed the last 4 games. Game times and Video will be shown on each school's respective websites.